Why Limbo?

Tyler and I have been in leadership roles and contributed to hiring processes for companies like Etsy, Hillary for America, Reddit, Readability and others. We’ve been involved in every aspect of the hiring funnel, as applicants and employers, hundreds of times.

We’ve come out of this knowing that traditional recruiting is flawed, and because of it many people stay in jobs where they are not fulfilled.

It’s emotionally taxing for job seekers. Applying to jobs and being declined (or worse, hearing no response) is demoralizing. Hiding your interest from your current employer for fear of retaliation is draining.

It’s systematically disenfranchising for underrepresented candidates. If you’re black, or a woman, or disabled, or a member of any other underrepresented group, you have a statistically harder time getting through the door due to bias.

It’s fraught with unfair power dynamics. Companies often approach hiring as a gauntlet through which candidates must prove their worth, rather than as a fair transaction of work needed and skill available.

As a result, many folks stagnate in jobs where they aren’t satisfied. Finding something new just has too many barriers.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Limbo is an Alternative Model

In Limbo, job seekers create an anonymous profile with their background and exactly the role they want. Hiring managers and recruiters can then find the candidates who best match their role, and request to reveal their identity.

Anonymity is important. It allows currently-employed people to explore the market with less effort and reduced anxiety, it mitigates top of funnel bias by obscuring the name, and it allows folks who are merely open to new opportunities to explore the market.

Hiring managers pay $30 to request a reveal (the first one is free). We require payment on request because it aligns us closely with our customers: companies will only pay for high quality leads, and candidates do not want to hear from companies who are not truly interested in them.

This is the only way Limbo makes money, and we do not sell your data. We’ve eschewed VC for this company because we intend to lead with our values first. We will not grow for growth’s sake. We align ourselves closely with our customers by tying our revenue to their satisfaction.